5/18/2004

FACULTY AND STAFF SICK LEAVE BANK

Purpose:

The purpose of the emergency leave pool is to furnish an option for faculty and staff who are faced with major illness or accident and have exhausted their emergency leave benefit.

Formulation and Administration

  1. The emergency leave bank shall become effective September 5, 1998.
  2. Each faculty/staff in the district may elect to join the pool. Faculty/Staff who elect to join the bank will contribute one day for 5 consecutive years to the pool’s operation and may be levied annually thereafter. The annual levy will not exceed one day.
  3. The option to join the bank will only be available between the start of the school year and September 5 of any given year.
  4. Faculty/Staff half-time or more but less than full-time may join on a prorated basis.
  5. Faculty/Staff who have met all requirements may draw from the bank based on the number of leave days available to them at the start of each school year, and according to the following implementation schedule:
  • Full time employees who have at least 10 sick leave days: 1 to 15 days
  • Full time employees who have at least 15 sick leave days: 1 to 25 days
  • Full time employees who have at least 25 sick leave days: 1 to 50 days
  • Full time employees who have at least 35 sick leave days: 1 to 75 days
  • Full time employees who have at least 45 sick leave days: 1 to 100 days
  • Full time employees who have at least 50 sick leave days: 1 to 125 days
  1. The Sick Leave Bank Committee shall consist of five members: two elected by the teaching staff, one elected by the support staff, one administrator appointed by the superintendent, and one school board member appointed by the school board.
  2. To annually review the policies and operations of the pool and to recommend modification or change as necessary to Faculty and Staff.
  3. To establish annual levies.
  4. To receive and act upon applications.
  5. To publish and disseminate an annual report on the operation of the emergency leave bank.
  1. The application process shall be guided by the following:
  2. The applicant must exhaust all accrued sick leave benefit and have one day of unpaid leave.
  3. The applicant will be ineligible to draw days from the bank when other employer benefits are available as compensation for loss of income.
  4. The applicant, spouse or child(ren) must have a serious health condition, as defined by the Family Medical Leave Act. Requests that include serious health conditions of other relatives will be considered on an individual basis.
  5. In non-emergency situations, applications must be submitted at least 15 days in advance of the requested date for usage of sick leave bank days.
  6. The committee will take action on the application within ten (10) working days. Action will consist of approval, disapproval or tabled pending further information.
  7. The sick leave committee must cast a majority vote (e.g. 3-2) to approve an application.
  8. The committee will reserve the right to request additional medical opinions and/or information.
  9. Pregnancy shall not be considered as an illness for sick bank usage.
  1. Should an applicant disagree with the decision of the emergency leave committee an appeal may be filed. The following procedures shall guide the appeal process:
  2. The appeal must be in writing, state the reasons for filing the appeal, and be filed within 10 working days from the date of notification to the superintendent of schools. The superintendent will, within 10 work days of the receipt of the appeal, render a decision in writing to the applicant.
  3. Within 5 work days after receiving the decision in Section 8A, the applicant may appeal the decision to the Board of Education. The board will review the appeal within 25 work days following receipt of the appeal and will render a written decision within 15 work days after the appeal review.
  4. Once the bank reaches 600 or more days, sick bank members who have donated days for the preceding five years will not have to donate to remain in good standing. Should the bank fall below 500 days, all Faculty/Staff who wish to participate in the bank will be expected to donate one day per year until that level is again reached.
  5. In no event shall the committee be allowed to award days not in the bank.
  6. Days cannot be taken from the sick bank when the issue is death related.
  7. Bereavement Days: Death to a member of the immediate family would allow an employee to have up to three days, per occurrence, off of work. This would be a benefit what would not be charged against a person’s sick days or personal days.
  8. If an employee needs time off for a death of a non-immediate family member, the time off will be charged against sick days rather than personal days. If a person’s sick days are deleted, they can use personal days for this purpose.